West Virginia Pollution Kills Fish, Mussels in Tributary of the Mon
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
18 September 2009
Two Pennsylvania agencies are monitoring a Monongahela tributary after
pollution from West Virginia killed at least 16 species of freshwater
mussels and at least 18 species of fish earlier this month.
More than 30 miles of Dunkard Creek have been impacted by a discharge
of total dissolved solids — which refers to all elements in water at
their molecular level and can include carbonates, chlorides, sulfates,
nitrates, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium — originating from
West Virginia.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Fish
and Boat Commission are working with the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
to address the fish kill, first detected on Sept. 1 and reported to the
DEP on Sept. 8.
The main stem of Dunkard Creek, in Pennsylvania, is designated a warm
water fishery. It meanders for 38 miles along the southwest border of
Pennsylvania before its confluence with the Monongahela River
downstream of Point Marion in Fayette County.